Carotid Angiography

Abstract

Computed tomography angiography is a valuable tool for clinicians to evaluate carotid arteries, to detect and to characterise atherosclerotic plaque, to determine stenose severity, to detect carotid and vertebral arterial dissection and to plan and to evaluate carotid stenting.

Use of multidetector CTA allows optimised image acquisition and post-processing protocols which permit isotropic scanning with small voxel size and reformatted images (curved MPRs, MIPs and VRT images) of high diagnostic quality.

In our department we use a scan range from ascending aorta to the pericalosal artery, which allows us to evaluate aortic arch, neck vessels and circle of Willis in the same acquisition.

Small quantity of contrast media, speed of acquisition and accurate reconstruction and diagnostic images have made CTA of the carotid arteries a powerful and reliable diagnostic tool which is used in planning of carotid surgical and endovascular procedures.